ACD/Labs, a leading cheminformatics company, is celebrating their 20th anniversary this month. Two decades of experience have transformed ACD/Labs from a startup chemistry software provider into a successful company that develops and commercializes solutions and services relied upon by R&D researchers worldwide.

In 1994 when chemistry laboratories predominantly used computers as typewriters, a group of young chemists recognized the potential for computer assisted chemistry solutions. Focusing on tools to increase the productivity of a scientist's daily work-chemical structure drawing, NMR predictors and databases, and hydrophobicity predictors resulting in logD and pKa software-they laid the foundation of the company. ACD/Labs' offerings have diversified and grown since, from a handful of desktop products to cheminformatics platforms that can be deployed enterprise-wide.

While the company has grown to a global corporation, it remains under the same private ownership, committed to supporting chemical R&D. ACD/Labs' dedication to chemistry is apparent through academic freeware offerings; affiliations and collaborations with numerous organizations and initiatives (IUPAC, InChI Trust, Open PHACTS, Pistoia Alliance, and the Allotrope Foundation); strategic partnerships; and participation in research projects such as PharmaSea. The long-lasting scientific culture of the company is evident through innovations that include Automated Structure Verification by NMR and the most peer-reviewed Computer Assisted Structure Elucidation software on the market.

"I recall receiving version 2.0 of ACD/Labs software while working in the pharmaceutical industry", says Duncan Farrant. "One reason I continue to upgrade more than 17 years on is that I have found that ACD/Labs software handles the structure-spectrum relationship seamlessly. I find that structures are presented efficiently and with an intuitive relationship to spectral data. The capability to create, access, and search well-organized databases of spectral data was one of the reasons I worked to introduce the software when I moved from pharma to polymer research."

"We deployed ACD/Labs to our global chemistry community for analytical problem-solving over 15 years ago because it provided analysts and chemists the ability to process spectral data regardless of the instrument vendor", says Randy Rutkowske (Manager of Analytical Chemistry at a major US pharmaceutical company). "The software greatly improves how I do my job and saves me a minimum of 50% of my time so I can concentrate on processing samples, science, and management responsibilities."

"At ACD/Labs, we are thankful to our customers for making this milestone anniversary possible," said Daria Thorp (President, ACD/Labs). "Organizations today are asking for solutions to help researchers create knowledge-rich scientific assets and intelligently reuse globally distributed knowledge. 'Silent automation' of scientific processes is also in high demand to improve productivity and give scientists more time to be inventive and insightful. We are aiming present and future developments on helping our customers solve these challenges."

Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc. (ACD/Labs)-Our cheminformatics solutions are used in industries that work with small molecules including pharma/biotech, chemicals, consumer goods, agrochemicals, petrochemicals, academic institutions, and government organizations. For more information, please visit www.acdlabs.com. Follow us on Twitter @ACDLabs.